The prospects of the recently opened deep-water and container transshipment port have been hampered by the arrest of about four Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) vessels in quick succession after the shipwreck of its vessel, MSC Elsa III, off the coast of Kerala after calling at Vizhinjam International Seaport, and the related legal actions.

This occurs at a time when container discharge from the Vizhinjam port, where MSC is the anchor client, has been decreasing since May. Although there was a minor increase in July (1.05 lakh TEU), the volume of containers handled decreased from 1.2 lakh TEU in May to 99,976 TEU in June. In March, a record 51 ships called at the port; however, only 24 ships did so until August 17.

In response to a compensation complaint brought by four fishing boat owners, the High Court recently ordered the arrest of the MV MSC Palermo, which was berthed at Vizhinjam port, until the claim amount was placed as security. MV MSC Manasa F and MSC Polo II were previously placed under conditional arrest after cargo owners filed similar lawsuits to protect their multi-crore claims.

Although there is potential for such vessel arrests at other ports in the nation, such as the Cochin port, officials claim that the seizure of MSC vessels in the Vizhinjam port specifically sends the wrong message to the world about the port.

However, the greens, such as Greenpeace India, insisted that MSC be held accountable and forced to cover the costs of the harm done to the environment and the loss of livelihood. Despite the difficulties, Vizhinjam port officials insisted that the port is on track to meet its goal of one million TEU of cargo by August.